Due to the widespread application of sensors that sense a physical quantity, expectations exist to simplify their manufacturing and implementation to reduce costs associated with these devices, as well as improve functional accuracy. In one example of an application, functional safety in automotive devices is targeted to increase reliability of such devices in terms of their behavior with respect to failures. To achieve corresponding targets in terms of automotive safety integrity level (ASIL) new and enhanced concepts have to be established. To achieve a dedicated ASIL level different target parameters as failures in time (FIT) rate, diagnostic coverage, single point failure mode (SPFM), latent point fault metric (LPFM), etc., have to achieve a dedicated value. For sensors, a typical safety goal is it to ensure dedicated signal accuracy in a predefined time (e.g., 5° deviation of the true angle value being detected in 5 ms at an angle sensor). These applications and others also apply to the need for differentially detecting a physical quantity, in which at least two sensor elements of a sensor are utilized for determining changes in a physical quantity or parameter, such as a rotational speed, rotational direction, a magnetic field, a temperature, a pressure, or other physical parameters, for example.